Judges 7: The Lord commands Gideon to reduce the size of the army lest the people boast and attribute success to themselves. 300 men of Israel attack the Midianites and set them to flight. They capture and kill Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian.
We learn from this chapter that the Lord’s great and ultimate design in the salvation of his people is his own glory. The Lord chooses to glorify himself through those who are inherently powerless.. His deliverance is wrought in the most unexpected and miraculous of ways.
Jeremiah 20: Jeremiah’s denunciation of the people and his warning of coming judgment in chapter 19 is met with the violent hostility of Pashhur the priest. He beats Jeremiah and then puts him in stocks. When Jeremiah is released, he forewarns Passhur of his imminent punishment. In verses 7-18, Jeremiah laments the intense suffering he is experiencing at the hands of Judah’s leaders.
The isolation brought about by the persecution of God’s people can often lead to discouragement and emotional turmoil. Our hope in the midst of isolation and affliction is the abiding presence of our ever-gracious God who has promised never to leave us or forsake us. In the midst of isolation and affliction we can rejoice and sing praises to the Lord (v. 13) since “He has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evil doers.” In the person of Jesus, the victory over our enemies has already been secured. We labor on in this world assured that Jesus reigns and will soon return to set us free from all His and our enemies.
Mark 6: One of the great purposes of Mark’s gospel is to reveal, through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, his identity as the Son of God (1:1). Mark 6 is largely concerned with this theme of Jesus’ identity. Who is Jesus Christ? What did others think of Him? Who did he reveal Himself to be? Those in his hometown of Nazareth think of him as the mere son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon (v. 3). Others said that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead (v. 14), still others that Jesus was Elijah (v. 15). All of these evaluations of Jesus are wrong. Only Jesus Himself can reveal to us His true identity and he does this in verses 30-56. Jesus is the compassionate shepherd of the sheep who graciously feeds the hungry; Jesus is Yahweh made flesh who provides bread for his people in the wilderness; Jesus is the Ruler of the Waves, the sovereign Lord over the forces of chaos who walks on the sea and stops its roaring; Jesus is the Great Physician who heals the unclean and gives them his purity without contracting their corruption. And yet, in spite of this revelation, his disciples fail to understand his identity due to their hardness of heart (v. 52). As D.A. Carson observes, “…their entire orientation was still too restricted, too focused on the immediacy of their fears, too limited by their inability to penetrate to the full mystery of who Jesus is and why he came. This side of the cross and resurrection, we have still less excuse than they” (D.A. Carson, For the Love of God, p. 34).
Acts 11: Peter explains and defends his mission to the Gentiles. The church in Jerusalem glorifies God for granting to the Gentiles repentance unto life. Barnabas goes to Antioch and then sends for Saul. For a year, Saul and Barnabas minister to the church in Antioch. Key verse: “When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life’” (11:18).
The Pastor's Pen 